1. Checking your phoneforces you to be more
reactive than pro-active. “It creates pressure to respond to
texts and emails when other people want you to, rather than when
it’s convenient for you.”

Writing in your notebook, however,puts you back in
control of your communication. “It gives you the chance to craft
your reply instead of shooting it off reactively, and respond on
your schedule, not someone else’s,” he says.

2. Checking your phonefills you with that
“frenetic, compulsive feeling that you might be missing out,”
McKeown says. Writing in your notebook, on the other
hand,has a calming influence.

3. Checking your phone“tricks you with the
trivial; it fools you into thinking that news and updates from
the virtual world are more important than what’s right in from of
you in the actual world right now,” he explains. Meanwhile,
writing in your notebookreminds you of what’s
important right now.

4. Checking your phonefills your spare moments
with noise, while writing in your notebookprovides
you time to think and reflect.

“Of course, the benefits of writing in a notebook or journal go
beyond the realm of productivity,” McKeown says. “If we want to
leave a legacy to those who come after us, one powerful way to do
it is to write a journal.”

If journaling sounds too daunting a task for you, he suggest the
following simple way to get started:

Write one sentence every day.

If you want to start this new habit, write less than you feel
like writing. Sounds counter-intuitive, right? “Typically, when
people start to keep a journal they write pages the first day.
Then by the second day the prospect of writing so much is
daunting, and they procrastinate or abandon the exercise.” So
instead, even if you feel like writing pages and pages, force
yourself to write just one sentence per day.